Chestnut Lodge

Chestnut Lodge is a house built in 1905, designed by architects Bennett and Davies of Princes Mews, Westminster, for W H Grant, in an Arts and Crafts style reminiscent of Voysey. It was later used as a youth club and then for storage. The house is constructed of roughcast, with a Cumberland slate roof, roughcast chimneys, and roughcast windows. Decorative cast iron rainwater heads are dated.

The house is two storeys with attics and exhibits a carefully asymmetrical design with irregular fenestration of casement windows containing leaded lights. The principal front, facing north east, features end two-story gables. The left gable has a four-light casement window to the first floor, and a curved bay of seven lights to the ground floor. The right gable has a curved bay of seven lights to both floors. The centre has two tiers of flat-roofed dormers, with the roof sweeping down to a verandah supported on four wooden posts. A right side casement window with a letter box and leaded light window accompanies an oak panelled door returning from the verandah. The south east side has a ground floor bay. On the south west side is a gable with a catslide roof, five casement windows (including two corner windows), a tall staircase window, bays to the ground floor on each side, and a central wooden verandah.

The front vestibule features green glazed tiles and an inner door with stained glass panels. The staircase hall is characterised by full-height painted panelling with a plate rail, a built-in china cupboard with serpentine shelves, and a fireplace with an overthrow, brackets, a shelf, diamond panels, and heart panels. The staircase incorporates three arches supported on square piers and flat balustrading with square newel posts. The former dining room to the north east has a beamed ceiling, oak panelling with strapwork panels, a stone fireplace with a four-centred arch and strapwork panels, built-in bookshelves, and a built-in sideboard. The former drawing room to the north east includes a large inglenook with panelling, cupboards, built-in seats, a three-sided display cabinet, a further china cupboard with glazed doors, and a built-in window seat. A rear room has built-in bookshelves with glazed doors. The service staircase is of a dogleg type, featuring diamond-shaped balusters. Original fireplaces and alcoves remain on the upper floors.

The house was built for a W H Grant of Crowhurst Road in Brixton, and his family resided there until 1934. Subsequently, Albert Stokes owned the property until 1954. Lambeth Borough then acquired the house and it was used as a Youth Club.